It is known to use flexible grommets to attach an object such as a wire harness to a support structure such as a body panel of a vehicle. Typically, a circular opening passing through the grommet clamps around the object, and an exterior mating feature of the grommet engages a mounting feature (e.g. slot or hole) of the support structure to secure the grommet and object to the support structure. The grommet may be positioned in a specified orientation relative to the object such that the object is correctly oriented relative to the support structure when the mating feature of the grommet is engaged with the mounting feature of the support structure.
Typically, to assemble the grommet around the object, a tool commonly called a grommet spreader or simply a spreader is utilized to stretch open the circular opening of the grommet to allow the object to be passed through. Once the object has been passed through and is in the correct position, the grommet is pulled off of the spreader to allow the grommet to clamp into position around the object.
One shortcoming associated with the usage of known grommet designs is the difficulty in stretching the circular opening over the outermost edges of the spreader. Another shortcoming is the difficulty in correctly aligning the grommet to the spreader as a result of the circular shape of the circular opening.